Are There Downward Nominal Rigidities in Product Markets?

Bank of England Working Paper No. 80

29 Pages Posted: 5 Jan 1999

See all articles by Simon Hall

Simon Hall

Bank of England

Anthony Yates

Bank of England - Monetary Analysis

Date Written: 1998

Abstract

This paper looks at disaggregated price data in the U.K. to see if there is evidence of downward nominal rigidity: are prices less likely to fall after a downward shock than they are to rise after an upward shock? The test is to see if, as the mean inflation rate falls, the skewness, or the tendency for price changes to bunch-up at zero, rises. The paper finds no convincing evidence of downward nominal rigidity.

JEL Classification: E31

Suggested Citation

Hall, Simon and Yates, Anthony, Are There Downward Nominal Rigidities in Product Markets? (1998). Bank of England Working Paper No. 80, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=129774 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.129774

Simon Hall (Contact Author)

Bank of England ( email )

Threadneedle Street
London, EC2R 8AH
United Kingdom

Anthony Yates

Bank of England - Monetary Analysis ( email )

Threadneedle Street
London EC2R 8AH
United Kingdom